Need of the Soul
by shriosfan
Summary: Fill for the Kmeme. Rated M for adult themes, swearing and eventual smut. What if scenario: Thane was present for Horizon, and the argument with Kaidan. Femshep/Thane with earlier ME Femshep/Kaidan references.
1. Chapter 1

**Need of the Soul.**

**Written for the Kinkmeme. Rated M for adult themes, swearing and eventual smut.**

**What If** timeline used: Recruitment of characters could be done in own order of preference rather than that laid down by Bioware.

Original Prompt: The night before Horizon Thane visits FemShep in her quarters for the first time and he notices Kaidan's picture. A!A can present the context of this scene and how Thane's discovery how s/he wants (fight, emotional discussion, Shep dodges, Thane says nothing, etc). Thane accompanies Shepard to Horizon the next day (2nd squadmate up to A!A, just not Garrus), and Kaidan handles the meeting exceedingly (and understandably) poorly. Much angrier than in game, he gets in Shepard's face. Thane steps in and fireworks ensue. Up to A!A whether the confrontation is physical, verbal, or both; whether Shep or the other party member has to separate them, etc. Shep ends up very hurt by Kaidan, and pissed at both Kaidan and Thane. Upon returning to the Normandy, Thane seeks out Shep in her quarters and blazingly hot, emotionally-charged, somewhat dirty sex ensues. Amount and type of discussion between Shep and Thane regarding events with Kaidan earlier that day is up to A!A, but should be addressed in some form, at some point. Shep should be clear to Thane that what she had with Kaidan is over, and she is now with the galaxy's sexiest assassin.

In short, this should be a relatively happy Shrios fic, with a decent dose of drama and emotion (not to the point of angst). Not to mention a whole lot of hot xeno sex.

Bonus Points:  
1. Kaidan catching on to Thane's "pet name" for Shepard (siha)  
2. Keeping Thane in character. He wouldn't have intervened as this actually played out in game, so he has to have good reason.  
3. Keeping Kaidan in character. I always felt his reaction was a bit subdued for seeing his girlfriend come back from the dead. Combine that with Cerberus, and I think there's a good opportunity to experiment with a more severe reaction to the situation, while still keeping him "Kaidan".  
4. Shepard having a brief, tearful or emotionally raw moment during sex  
5. Sex/Foreplay starts out a bit hesitant/slow (but not awkward)  
6. No non-con/dubcon/breathplay/watersports; pretty much anything else goes  
7. Garrus being the good friend heads up to Shep's cabin check on her after he finds out about what happened...and then walks in on Thane and Shepard in post-coital bliss. Maybe as Thane is stepping out to grab them food from the mess or something. Embarrassment and hilarity ensue. Please don't turn that moment into a threesome or something. Thanks :]  
8. No mention of Kepral's/death/etc, unless it is in the context of a cure/treatment  
9. Standard Jane Shepard  
10. A lengthier fill would be bloody fantastic


	2. Chapter 2

_Every time that I look in the mirror,  
__All these lines on my face getting clearer,  
__the past is gone.  
__It went by like dusk to dawn, isn't that the way?  
__Everybody's got their dues in life to pay._

_Well I know nobody knows,  
__where it comes and where it goes.  
__I know it's everybodys sin  
__you got to know how to lose to win._

Shepard idly wondered what had gone down between her friends after her death. She hadn't expected Garrus of all people to flatly refuse to go down to Horizon with her when she'd let him in on the fact that Kaidan was there. His closed mandible look was one of smouldering anger, the type that he normally kept for people who really pissed him off, like Harkin and the turian councillor Sparatus. Tali hadn't helped either, just stood there and wrung her hands, head down like a naughty schoolgirl. Bad then.

She sent a message to Liara at Illium, and had just received the enigmatic reply in her quarters:

_Shepard,_  
_Don't ask._  
_Kaidan moved on, last I knew he was dating Dr Michel on the Citadel._  
_I hope that he agrees to help you._  
_Liara._

From what Anderson had said to her, staff commander Alenko was to be considered 'offlimits'. Shepard had originally thought that it was just the fraternisation rule, but since he was seeing someone else, it made more sense. Two years was a long time, for him anyway.

That of course bought her back to the very uncomfortable conversation that she'd have to have with Thane tonight. How did you tell boyfriend A that you were off to rescue 'ex'-boyfriend B without it getting too personal, or lying?

Worse, that morning Mordin had collared her with an embarassing interspecies sex talk. She wondered if salarians had as little sex drive as they made out, the drell/human porn files he'd sent her were numerous, and not all from Fornax. Jane hadn't dared to open them yet, having sex on the brain was already a problem when Thane was around. Actually it wasn't her fantasies about him that were the issue, more the lack of physical contact so far. He was driving her insane with need and seemed totally oblivious to the fact.

Her door chimed and opened, speak of the devil.

"Thane."

His eyes flicked towards her, a small smile turning up the side of his lips. Thane quickly glanced around her cabin for the first time, cataloguing the points of entry and defensibility of it, then turned his intense gaze towards her.

"Larger than I imagined, 4 obvious weak spots that can be easily exploited by an assassin."

"They'd have to dodge a bullet first." _Eyes front and up Shepard_, sitting gave her an unobstructed view of his toned abs and groin area, _so not a good idea at the moment_.

He strode towards her, and admired the pistol collection on the shelves above her desk. "A nice selection Siha, all working, or are some replicas?" He picked her old HMWP pistol out and placed it next to the keyboard. "Your first choice from these?"

Shepard grinned up at him, "Uhuh, and there are 5 more scattered around the cabin, care to find them?"

He leaned towards her, resting his hands on her shoulders from behind, and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. Thane smiled at her reaction, and deftly avoided her grab towards his torc.

"What is the prize for doing so Siha?"

Jane licked her lips, and let her voice drop invitingly, " Whatever you wish Sere Krios."

He grunted and spun her chair around, regarding her impassively, a double blink. Jane began to squirm, he'd barely touched her and she was already lost in thoughts of ripping his leathers off. She felt utterly safe and yet, his whole bearing screamed predator, and she was the one being hunted. Maybe Kelly was right, scary and sexy.

"An interesting contract. This time, something simple I think, a perfect kiss." Then he stalked away to begin his search.

"Carnifex." She heard him place the gun in the bathroom sink, "Not a place I'd expect a charging krogan."

He was enjoying the game she noted as he walked past, turning her mind back to signing the datapads sent up by Miranda. She heard the leather sigh of the seats below, and a brush along the sides near the wine glasses that she'd set out. "Predator."

Shepard groaned, he really was going to hunt out her hidden sidearms, she walked down to the sofa, poured a glass of Thessian red and watched him debate his next choice.

Next her non-work terminal, he watched her face then lifted the N7 helmet. " Karpov."

He rolled onto her bed, she had to swallow hard, the bastard was making this far too difficult, and she was getting wetter by the minute. He was so not getting out of here without that promised kiss, ideally more.

For a moment he posed on one elbow, then pulled out a gun from under her pillow, "Stiletto." He brushed his hands against her sheets, the sensualist in him showing through, then he went for the kill. There was absolutely no guessing involved. The drawer in the nightstand on the other side of the bed.

_Oh crap, that drawer..._

"Siha, I am unsure which gun here you would use. The Phalanx or ...the Rabbit, because either would hit with great accuracy."

The mouthful of wine splattered everywhere, and she felt he could feel her embarassment just from the megaton wattage of her blush. Which grew even worse, as he sat on her bed with an evil smirk and started playing with the buttons on her vibrator. She helplessly watched the pearls rotate, and the clitoral stimulator buzz, before he mercifully turned the damn thing off.

"May I ask exactly why you felt the need for this toy?"

Shepard gulped, looked from the rabbit to Thane, and went for the most plausible answer, he'd have to drag the full truth out of her later if he dared.

" Cerberus. The Lazurus project rebuilt a fair amount of my body, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't a ..._mumble_ _virgin._.._mumble, _besides it took the edge off...or made it worse depending on your point of view." She fidgeted then locked eyes with him, "Besides, I didn't think I had another option available."

Damn the man, drell, he just smiled softly like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Why didn't you ask me Siha?" He leaned back on one elbow looking like some damn sex god, all toned lines.

"Well, knowing me, that would either have come out as horribly awkward or sounding like a terrible flirt. I want you Thane, but I,.. I want more than just sex." Ok, could have gone better, but it could have sounded even worse, Jane winced. Just how did people survive this stage of a relationship?

Thanes face softened, he regarded the redhaired woman opposite, he knew how difficult this must be for her, and he wanted to make it as easy as it should be. Love was an easy thing if you could trust another, not a thing of mindless rut, needs of the body must be balanced by needs of the soul.

"I have enjoyed our game Shepard, but before I claim my dues, perhaps we should talk about staff commander Alenko. Is there something that you wish to confide in me?"

Mental cold shower time, 'ex'-boyfriend B.

" Yeah," she turned away, then forced herself to look back at Thane again. She wouldn't lie, so that only left the truth. " We...we were intimate once. The night before the mission to Illos, he came to my quarters. We both needed somebody. He insisted that it would never effect our work together in the future, the whole fraternisation thing. We agreed that having mutineed we could break the rules that once." She swirled her wine, and took a gulp. "Neither of talked about commitment or love, just the maybes of shoreleave. Crap, we hadn't even kissed before that, Joker was such a cockblocker back then."

Jane was astonished at herself, apparently the truth was going to be the all out, unvarnished kind, what made it impossible to lie around Thane?

"Siha, you talk of a need of the body." He moved from the bed to sit by her side, his thigh pressed against hers. Thane poured himself a glass of wine and continued. " I conversed with Mordin earlier, and turned down his gracious offer of information. My body is a highly trained weapon, sex was one of the tools that I was taught to use. When I was married to Irikah, I'd return to Kahje for the mating cycle. After she died, I did not return, in my battlesleep I would sate my heat in the arms of any compatible female that was willing, drell, asari, or human. It was not a thing of attraction or affection, just mindless fucking, a release if you will. I do understand."

Shepard, felt shocked at Thanes use of the f word, somehow that spoke more of the rawness of battlesleep than anything else he'd ever said. She reached out and took his hand in hers, their fingers meshing easily now. Taking and giving what comfort she could.

"We were friends Thane, and we were attracted to each other. Given the right circumstances, we might have fallen in love, then I died. He was the first I'd ever let get that close, before there was just a string of one night stands. After...after Mindoir intimacy was just too difficult, I didn't... I didn't want anyones pity. I tried to tell him once, but he started a conversation about Elysium getting me any posting that I wanted, so I let it drop."

There was no pity in his gaze, just his normal watchfulness, it made Jane relax, as much as she was able given the circumstances. "We should really talk about Mindoir Thane, I..."

A finger suddenly rested against her lips and he leaned forwards to whisper in her ear.

"Not today I think. Tomorrow perhaps." Then he gently kissed her jaw.

"That had better not be the perfect kiss Krios, or you are not getting out of here alive!"

Her voice cracked, but her body was already responding, reaching for him, to find that again he had evaded her. Laughing, he moved towards her office on the upper level, then turned and crooked his finger at her.

She sighed, this had better be good, the perfect kiss, not in bed or on a sofa so it seemed. Shepard put down her glass and followed him.

He pulled her into him hungrily, his lips gentle on hers, tongue greedy for entry. She sighed into his mouth allowing him entrance, pulling his face nearer, forcing him to crush his lips against hers.

Thanes hands fell to her backside, increasing the pressure between the two of them until he felt her mound hot against his hardness. Her own hands caressed his frills, then stroked down the side ridges.

Groaning he released his biotics, and began to move her backwards towards the desk, two dancers in perfect step. His blue aura teased every nerve ending in her body, Jane had never felt so alive, she was shaking from the need to beg him to take her now, she felt empty and wanted him to fill that void. She let her own biotics flow, powered by her desire to touch and be touched.

Their lips parted, and eyes met expressing mutual desire, then he lifted her onto the desk, his hands slowly swirling on her thighs. Did she open them or did he, did it even matter? It felt so right when Thane stepped between them. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he pulled her to the edge of the desk, their cores fiery against the other, each moving just enough to let their interest be acknowledged by the other, in small moans of need. Jane pulled his head down into another kiss, this time both biotic fields pulsing, drawing them towards the edge that beckoned but neither would yet cross.

It was Thanes greater control that eventually allowed him to move back, face softened by one of his rare full smiles. He lifted both her hands, gently kissed the palms and released them.

"Thane, stay with me tonight." Shepard said reaching for him again.

He bowed, falling back into formality, as he walked towards the door.

"I can not Siha, it would be wrong. Tomorrow perhaps." He paused and looked back " I...If it is needed Shepard, I do not wish to cause you pain, I will step aside, but I will always carry you in my heart."

Then he was gone.

_Half my lifes in a books written pages,  
__Live and learn from fools and from sages,  
__You know it's true,  
__All the things you do  
__Come back to you._

_Sing with me, sing for the year  
__Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear  
__Sing with me, it's just for today  
__Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away._

A!A Notes

Lyrics from Dream On: Aerosmith.  
Guns from ME/ME2.

British English spellchecker.


	3. Chapter 3

_Climb into the ring for a battle that you can't win  
__Swing as hard as you can, it will still mean nothing.  
__Should've seen it coming, it had to happen sometime,  
__But you went and brought a knife to an all-out gun fight!_

_And the only thing that's safe is the banner that you wave,  
__To be wrapped around your grave._

_You've gone too far,  
__Who do you think you are?  
__Is this what you came for?  
__Well, this means war!_

"So Shepard, your little lovers tiff over with now? Can't say that I care for silence so fucking thick that I could cut it with my knife. Not sure what's worse, the two of you like this, or the shitty sexual tension you've been building up lately." Zaeed lit up a cigar and regarded Jane with a cynical eye. "Sort it!"

She risked a quick glance towards Thane, to see the cold impassivity that had acccompanied their mission through the colony. He'd not said a single word, either to her or the grizzled mercenary. She turned back and wafted the smoke away with her arm, watching the Collector ship pull into the upper atmosphere, taking half of the colonists with it.

Delenn, the mechanic that they'd met earlier stumbled up to them mumbling incoherently about the human cost of this fight. There was nothing she could have done, and yet it curdled her guts to think of those taken. The people she'd been sent to protect.

"You saved half of them Shepard." Thane nodded towards her, his voice more gravelly than usual due to lack of use on the mission. Compassion flashed in his eyes, knowing that Jane was blaming herself. Then his head snapped sideways, body gliding to come to parade rest just behind her, as he watched Alenko with the eyes of a hunter.

"Commander Shepard, Captain of the Normandy, the first human SPECTRE, Saviour of the Citadel." Kaidan almost smiled, then his lips twisted in anger, "You're in the presence of a legend Delenn...and a ghost!"

Shepard could recognise all of the emotions of her old crew, subtle tells giving them away. Kaidan was definitely annoyed with her. As he strode forwards, she gave an inch or two trying to maintain a comfortable distance. Suddenly he flung his arms around her and after a split seconds pause she hugged him back. He made no move to kiss her.

"I thought you were dead Shepard, we all did." He stepped back almost as fast as he'd closed the gap in the first place. His face still twisted by dark emotion.

Ok, time to defuse the Kaidan timebomb, "You sound angry Kaidan. Talk to me." She smiled up at him.

"Is that all you have to say? It's been two years Shepard. I blamed myself for your death, I grieved for you, hell I even saw a damn therapist because I couldn't get you out of my head!" Jane reached up to try to touch his face and he knocked her hand away hard. "The funeral was a bitch, I don't think there was a dry eye on the Citadel. Then Hackett caught on and I just missed a disciplinary action thanks to Andersons intervention. To add to it all, six months later, they decided that you were a political inconvenience, and started a campaign to discredit your warnings about the Reapers." He brushed his hand through his hair nervously. "Character assassination at its best."

"It is often more effective than a real assassination, Siha." Thane commented, finding himself wondering if Kaidan had been more interested in his own welfare all along, rather than that of Shepard. Then swiftly concluded that he been wrong in offering to stand aside... for this?

"Yeah...huh, except _she_ gave them all the ammo that they needed!" He flung the accusation into the air between them, leaving Jane confused.

"What are you talking about Kaidan?" Shepard folded her arms and glared.

"You and the turians Shepard. First Nihlus, and all that time you were alone together, now I might have let that one pass as just him assessing you for SPECTRE status, but I know exactly how much time you spent with Garrus. He went down on every mission, you two and Tali were inseperable even on shoreleave, turians lined up to confirm that his scent was all over the two of you. Sexual favours for promotion, that's what they said about Nihlus, as for Garrus they went for the sparring partner route. Sparatus just loved the idea that Commander Shepard couldn't get enough turian dick,.. and we won't get into what Terra Firma said in their adverts about your xenophile tendencies!"

"_Nice_... I bet Garrus _really loved_ your trust in him, so how far did you get in your puerile accusations before he headbutted you?" Jane knew she'd hit home at Kaidans wince."You did realise that Tali and Garrus were dating didn't you? I should say _are dating_ as they are presently installing Nerve Stim Pro in their respective undersuits. As for me, I've never found turians physically attractive, and the thought of making out with Garrus is as repulsive as doing so _with my own brother_."

"They're with you again? So what are they going to hide for you this time Commander?"

"Kaidan, you may mean well, but you'd better stop talking out of your arse, or I'm going to have to fucking kick your brains back up into your head." Jane snapped. She made a quick chopping motion at Zaeeds' snort of amusement.

" Funny that, Tevos never seemed to want to get involved in the dishing of dirt, maybe you impressed her, or maybe most asari just find you too damned attractive. However the STG are experts at uncovering hidden information, in your case a medical file. A report made on your physical condition by the Alliance cruiser gathering data for a case against the Batarians, a report made just after Mindoir. It was suppressed for political reasons way back. The STG leaked it to the Hegemony news broadcasters, it went viral on the extranet within hours. You know I really wanted to believe that it was just rumour, then I checked."

Shepard felt as though her world was crumbling, shit, salarian bastards, that was just low. She took a step backwards, a hand raising towards her heart, crap, it was already difficult to breathe.

Kaidan continued wanting to hurt her as much as she'd hurt him by her absence.

"Imagine how I felt to find out from Arcturus station that the report was true, written by Chakwas in fact, then I asked Garrus, might as well right? He knew more about my girlfriend than I did. Apparently he and Tali were there when you talked down another Mindoir survivor, Talitha I think her name was. You dragged them off and got drunk afterwards, sharing a few memories along the way. Why didn't you tell me?"

Alenko balled his fists in rage, paying no attention to the rumbling growl near his lower hearing range.

Jane dreaded what he'd say next, she knew what was in that report, crap, she'd lived through it for ten days trying to protect the younger kids. She shook her head hoping that he'd finally get the message, backing up until she hit black leather. Memories were crowding in. Definitely not the ones that you wanted to remember on lonely nights staring at walls of metal and plastic. However they were the ones that haunted her dreams.

A hand grasped her arm, "Siha?" he murmered in her ear, she turned her eyes filled with anguish and pain towards his, just wanting this all to stop.

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me, listening to the Batarians? I loved you. They joked about having the great Commander Shepard, passing her around like a beer can at a party. I'm not sure what was worse, when they said that you begged for it to stop, or when they joked that you liked it so much that you begged them to..."

"Enough!" A black clad blur of motion grabbed Kaidan by the throat raising him to tip toes, hand pressing into his carotid artery cutting off the oxygen supply making it difficult for him to finish. Thane continued, his rage burning cold as he looked into Alenkos brown eyes. "Love seeketh not itself to please, nor for itself hath any care, but for another gives its ease, and builds a Heaven in Hells' despair."

Jane wasn't sure what dragged her from her memories, Thanes voice or Kaidans choking noise.

"Thane! Put him down, NOW!"

"As you wish Siha." He lit up with biotics, and threw Kaidan into the nearest crate. The impact should leave a few bruises even through the armour, he thought with grim satisfaction.

"Krios!"

"He's still alive."

Shepard sighed, she could see why Garrus and Thane got on so well. They both shared a protective instinct that could be frightening in its intensity.

Kaidan brushed away the broken crate, his own biotics flaring as he stood. He'd been accused of many things in his day, being stupid in a fight wasn't one of them. The two team mates with Shepard were both giving off dangerous vibes.

The scarred man stood there, supposedly relaxed, smoking his cigar with one hand, the other hand was tossing a throwing knife in a small circle, hilt, blade, hilt, watching him with the same expression that a drill sergeant would give a particularly stupid recruit.

The drell wasn't hiding anything, what stared him back in the face was death incarnate. Krios? Thane Krios...the assassin who'd cut a swath through the Batarian slaver rings in his quest of vengeance for a dead wife? Shit.

Kaidan dowsed his biotics, and shrugged. "Guess I deserved that. Nice quote...William Blake. So I'm guessing that 'Siha' isn't drell for commander then?"

Thane acknowledged that their battle had swopped to verbal blades, and relaxed his stance. "No."

Shepard moved to cut off their argument before it had even begun. "I was clinically dead Kaidan, it took them two years to bring me back, you'd moved on."

Kaidan remembered a few snippets from the last Fornax magazine. "Yeah, I thought I had. So tell me Jane, how high on drell venom were you to let that thing touch you? I mean in theory according to Fornax, human women are compatible, even with the size difference."

"Personally I've found that human women prefer our ribbing and girth, not to mention endurance. Such a sad reflection on human evolution, that your women are multi-orgasmic, but your males are often unable to perform to an adequate standard even once a night."

Alenko grinned, so they hadn't gotten that far, huh."Guess it must really piss you off knowing about her past, about me having been there first."

"_She pulls me between her thighs, her heat surrounding me, lips locked with mine. I push further, she moans, our biotics alone bring us to the edge, pulsing. Her voice thick with desire, Thane stay with me tonight_...perfect memory, such a burden." Thane simply smiled.

"Thane!" Janes' elbow rammed into his gut, so Kaidan wanted to play that game, ok, fine by her, he could dig his own grave. She let a smirk twist her lips, "I enjoy his touch actually, particularly the biotic foreplay, you don't need a drug high when you're in love with someone experienced at giving pleasure."

Shit that was not a good picture in his head. He noticed that Thane had already turned away, his whole posture changing, softer, head bowed with a small smile, what had he missed? Damn, he'd been concentrating on the sex talk and Jane had said..she'd said that she loved Krios. Suddenly he felt guilty, he'd been so angry and only sought to lash out, forgetting the consequences.

"We'd heard rumours that you weren't dead, that you were with Cerberus." Somehow he was left feeling like a complete bastard for intruding on their happiness, she'd known about Chloe, but hadn't mentioned her by name. That was typical of his Shepard.

"You knew?" The irritation in Zaeeds' voice didn't bode well for future interactions.

"I'm not with Cerberus Kaidan, they're with me, we're working to stop this crap, to protect the colonists."

"Damn straight!" Zaeed crushed the remains of the cigar under his foot.

"Alliance Intel thought Cerberus was behind the missing colonies, we had a tip that this one was the next to get hit. We both know what Cerberus is like Jane, what they're capable of. I never believed this though, you betrayed the Alliance, you betrayed me!"

"You know me Kaidan, you know that I'd only do this for the right reason, you saw it yourself, they're targeting human colonies and working with the Reapers."

"I want to believe you but I don't trust Cerberus, they could be manipulating you, what if they're behind it, what if they're working with the Collectors?"

"You really mean that you don't trust me. Before Illos you said that you'd follow me anywhere because you believed in me. So let's just cut the bullshit. I'm a Council SPECTRE and I'm asking for your help on this mission."

"Huh, right. Maybe you should check that sometime. You've changed, but I still know where my loyalties lie, I'm an Alliance soldier, always will be. I've got to report back to the Citadel, they can decide if they believe you or not." He turned to go, showing her what he believed she deserved, his back.

"By the time you get there, they'll already know. They reactivated my status three weeks ago, and I have a member of the STG on board, retired or not. Goodbye Kaidan."

He waved over his shoulder, "Goodbye Shepard, keep safe out there."

She watched him disappear into the outskirts of the colony.

"Joker send a shuttle to pick us up...I've had enough of this colony."

Thane gently took her into his arms, a hug of comfort. Anything else could wait until later.

"Well I'm glad you two finally sorted that shit out, I was bloody worried that I lose that bet, Garrus, Wrex and I had damn good odds going there...would have been a fucking shame to have lost." Zaeed, a sentimentalist to the end.

_Say anything you want, but that's not going to get you nowhere  
__The only thing your brought is psychological warfare  
__There's no giving up, you've got to wonder  
__Who will dig you out when you're six feet under?_

_If the only thing that's safe is the banner that you wave,  
__To be wrapped around your grave._

_You've gone too far,  
__Who do you think you are?  
__Is this what you came for?  
__Well, this means war!_

A!A notes:  
Lyrics, This Means War: Nickelback  
Character assassination idea: Dialogue from Jacob, Gabby, Ken and Anderson.


	4. Chapter 4

_I bottle all my hurt inside,  
I guess I'm living a lie.  
Inside my mind each day I die  
What can bring me back to life?  
A simple word, a gesture  
Someone to say you're beautiful  
Come find this buried treasure  
Rainbows lead to a pot of gold._

_Who's there to save the hero_  
_When she's left all alone_  
_And she's crying out for help_  
_Who's there to save the hero_  
_Who's there to save the girl_  
_After she saves the world..._  
_After she saves the world._

The Illusive Prick had set the colony up, he'd set Kaidan up and worse yet, lied to her. She'd told Garrus and Tali that Cerberus would turn on them eventually. Looked like sooner rather than later. Nobody, but nobody messed with her people.

She noticed Jacob step back in startlement as she marched through the armoury, her white hot rage not something he'd seen before, heard about yes, but never seen.

Jane snapped at Yeoman Chambers when she expressed her concern over Kaidan. The past was the past. Then headed for the cockpit.

"Hey Commander, it's pretty crazy the people that you can meet out here huh?" Jeff swung his seat around to talk to her, cutting off his connection to Liara before Shepard could see who he'd been talking to.

"Stow it Joker. You know exactly how it went, the way you run the betting pool, it pics or nothing happened, and I'm going out on a limb to say that Zaeed recorded it as well."

He had the good grace to look uncomfortable "Yeah, I would have given you a heads up if I'd known Kaidan was going to be so shitty. Guess they muddled up our service files huh?"

"Do I really want to know the winning bet?"

Joker brightened, it might make her laugh and she looked like she needed it.

"All of the old crew members gave their own scenario and the latecomers chose a sweepstake option, all very classy. Wrex said that you could never mate with a man who couldn't beat you in a fight, so the romance with Alenko was just blowing off steam. When he heard about Krios he laughed and said that you'd finally found a man worthy of you. Garrus and Zaeed weren't so sure of that but they agreed with the first part, so three winners. They cleaned us out."

He watched Shepards closed expression. She just leaned against the wall with her arms folded.

"Any other interesting scenarios?"

"Well I voted for hot monkey sex on Horizon...but you disappointed me. Would have made a great addition to my vids." He tried for the lighthearted approach.

"Was Thane involved in this."

"No, he wasn't allowed to bet, too near the source so to speak."

"Don't mess with me Jeff, was Thane aware of the betting pool before he came up to my quarters last night?"

"Errrr..." Shit, she was livid about something.

"Yes commander. Sere Krios was present in the mess area when it was being discussed last night. From my calculations on drell facial expressions, I believe him to have found it...amusing."

Shepard blinked hard, crap Joker thought, was she crying? Then Jane was gone.

"Shit EDI, was that really necessary?"

"There is a high probability that the commander believes that Sere Krios may have deliberately manufactured evidence that he used against staff commander Alenko."

"Huh, you mean the memory thing, of them having sex? Yeah, guess that'd piss her off."

"They did not have sexual intercourse Jeff, Sere Krios merely described a kiss." EDI flashed.

Jeff gulped. Just a kiss?

"Guess you'd better warn Thane EDI, at least then he might understand why she's going to tear him a new one. After that let's load the next vid from the selection sent to Shepard by Mordin, oh and make a copy."

"Very well Jeff."

_I've given too much of myself  
And now it's driving me crazy  
I'm crying out for help  
Sometimes I wish someone would  
Just come here and save me...  
Save me from myself_

_Who's there to save the hero_  
_When she's left all alone_  
_And she's crying out for help_  
_Who's there to save the hero_  
_Who's there to save the girl_  
_After she saves the world..._  
_After she saves the world._

A!A Notes. Lyrics Save The Hero: Beyonce


	5. Chapter 5

_Did you forget  
That I was even alive  
Did you forget  
Everything you ever had  
Did you forget  
Did you forget  
About me?_

_Did you regret_  
_Ever standing by my side_  
_Did you forget_  
_What we were feeling inside_  
_Now I'm left_  
_To forget_  
_About us_

_But somewhere we went wrong_  
_We were once so strong_  
_Our love is like a song_  
_You can't forget it_

Kaidan sat with his face in his hands, an Alliance cruiser was on the way and they'd confirmed Shepards SPECTRE status. He was left angry, not at Jane but at himself. He'd been too focused on the past, his pain and grief. Somehow he'd forgotten what she'd actually meant to him.

Instead she was in someone elses arms tonight, when she should have been in his, and he knew deep down that it was his own fault.

Maybe he could make it right...somehow. He raised his omnitool and started dictating a letter.

Shepard,

I'm sorry for what I said on Horizon. I spent two years pulling myself back together after you went down with the Normandy. It took me a a long time to get over my guilt for surviving and move on. I'd finally let my friends talk me into going out with Chloe Michel on the Citadel. Nothing serious, but trying to let myself have a life again, you know?

Then I saw you, and everything pulled hard to port. You were standing in front of me, but you were with Thane. I guess I really don't know who either of us is anymore. Do you even remember that night before Illos? That night meant everything to me...maybe it meant as much to you. But a lot has changed in the last two years and I can't just put that aside.

But please be careful. I've watched too many people close to me die - on Eden Prime, on Virmire, on Horizon, on the Normandy. I couldn't bear it if I lost you again. If you're still the woman I remember I know that you'll find a way to stop these Collector attacks. But Cerberus is too dangerous to be trusted. Watch yourself.

When things settle down a little...maybe...I don't know. Just take care.

Kaidan.

Damn, it all sounded so clinical, would she even read it or would she erase it without opening. Maybe he should talk to Liara first, she was the most likely to understand. He sighed and decided to wait until he could message his old friend.

_And at last  
All the pictures have been burned  
And all the past  
Is just a lesson that we've learned  
I won't forget it  
Please don't forget  
About us_

_But somewhere we went wrong_  
_Our love is like a song_  
_But you won't sing along_  
_You've forgotten_  
_About us_

A!A Lyrics Don't Forget: Demi Lovato  
Updated version of Kaidans letter to Shepard to reflect What If scenario.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Authors Note: takes place 30 minutes after scene with Joker. Smut._**

_If you could only see the beast you've made of me  
I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free  
Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart  
Drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart_

_Now there's no holding back, I'm making to attack  
My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out  
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound  
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground_

The noise of the shower almost hid the opening hiss of the bathroom door, but not the unmistakeable change in temperature on her back. It didn't close. Being naked in a shower room around men was second nature for a female N7, all of the team quarters were co-ed in the Alliance. The Cerberus civilian style rest rooms were a luxury. Only one person had unlimited access to the loft.

"Enjoying the view?" Jane teased looking back over her shoulder.

Thane was leaning against the doorjamb studying her with a smirk. Shepard was all lean lines and toned muscle, very much the soldier, rather than the hourglass shape of her colleagues. He knew that humans saw her bodytype as less desirable, but to a drell, she was attractively proportioned. For a moment he let himself imagine how she'd look if she were drell, dark red scales with golden highlights like her human hair, and those green eyes. Then decided that either way she was beautiful to him. He shifted slightly, pants getting tight.

"Most certainly."

Well, his honesty had always been refreshing. It made staying annoyed at him almost impossible, particularly since all she had to do was ask the question that was bugging her and she knew that he would answer with the truth. The problem was did she want the answer?

Jane turned off the water and grabbed for her towel, then suddenly realised what she'd done as her pink Rabbit vibrator went skidding across the floor. Law of sod said that it stopped at his feet. Crap. Give him more ammunition why don't you?

Thane grunted in amusement at her discomfort, then bent and picked it up. Holding her eyes he removed the power clip and tucked it into his pocket. Then tossed the Rabbit into the waste bin.

"So were you planning to take the edge off, or make it worse Siha?"

She continued drying her back, dragging the towel between her shoulders, suddenly very aware that he was seeing her full frontal for the first time. What did he think of breasts? Drell weren't mammalian so they must seem weird. Ok don't mention it, unless he does first.

"Well if you hadn't turned up, then yes, Mr Rabbit and I had a hot date with a bottle of whisky planned. Still might..." Jane pulled on her silk bathrobe, and walked passed Thane, brushing her hand lightly across the exposed scales on his chest. She could feel his hum under her fingertips.

She noticed that he'd moved her work terminal and datapads to sit next to her books. The main desk surface empty, save for the careful placement of Alenkos photograph, near the end. Ok, so Joker had done the boys thing and tipped him off. Great.

"I merely wished to assess your reaction when I kissed you next to his photograph. There was no ulterior motive, at least not for my part...at that time." Thane closed the gap between them, gently turning her into him. "There is now."

He smelled of leather and sandalwood, home. Jane could feel his hands caressing her through the thin silk, light swirling motions bringing her skin to life. She shivered with need, and his lips descended onto hers, hungry and forceful, perfect timing.

Shepard moaned into his mouth, desperate to touch and feel him. He was definitely wearing too many clothes. It turned her on, her wearing so little to his fully dressed form, feeling more vulnerable and softer than normal. Damn the drell, and his remote control of her hormones. Her hands ghosted over his toned chest feeling for the clasps of his jacket, going for the pants straight off was tempting, but perhaps unwise.

Breaking his kiss, Thane took her hands in his, then pulled her arms behind her, crushing her hot mound against his hardness. He bowed his head to nibble her earlobe, then placed tingling soft bites and scorching kisses all down her neck and along her collarbone. Thankfully humans were sensitive in similar places to drell. With a deep trilling hum he whispered into her ear.

"What do you need Siha?"

The vibration hit her groin hard, Jane could feel herself getting wetter, she pressed herself wantonly against him, feeling his response even through the armour. She stretched her neck backwards and caught his bottom lip between her own, sucking on it in the rhythm that she'd like to feel him use on her. Hearing him grunt his approval.

Thane moved to hold both of her wrists in one hand then raised the other to her face, his thumb caressing her jawline with a smooth stroke, breaking her mouths obvious invitation. His eyes double blinked, ridges raised in question.

"Siha? Or would you prefer that I leave you alone with your toy?"

Woah, was this just Thane teasing her, or a drell consent thing? Did it really matter? She knew that she wouldn't beg, so taking a page out of his own book, she looked directly into his eyes and hoped for the best.

"Fuck me."

"No." He released her hands, his face returning to impassivity. Thane continued to caress her jawline, his other hand moving to her hip, to hold her steady as he moved back a fraction from their tight embrace. "You said that you wanted more than sex Siha."

Oh, crap. He'd said that fucking was a need of the body, something done when in heat. Maybe they didn't do it at any other time? No, he was interested. Something else, think...but she couldn't remember anything specific, some social cue perhaps?

She raised her hand to touch his face, softly stroking his pink frills. Watching him turn into her touch, eyes momentarily shutting in pleasure.

"Thane, I didn't watch the vids from Mordin. I wanted us to discover each other the old fashioned way. I don't know what social gaff I just made, so we'll have to put it down to interspecies awkwardness. Humans also use the term fuck to denote a quickie, an appetiser that takes the edge off so you can actually concentrate on the main course later. I mean, didn't you and Irikah do that? You were away often enough to need to blow off some steam before settling in to make love..."

His eyes flicked back to her, face turning downwards in an expression of regret, his trill sorrowful like the time he'd told her how Irikah had talked of his being away on business. "When I was freelance, Irikah had no interest in my needs of the body, she thought the lust was tainted by killing. Perhaps it was."

Shepard was surprised, it was a common complaint from soldiers wives, lust vs love, instead of lust and love. It wasn't something that she'd expected from the epic romance that was Thane and Irikah.

"So, is that you never felt the need or ..."

Thane sighed, a day for confessions. He pulled her back into his body taking comfort in her warmth.

"Today after we faced down the Praetorian, I just wanted to drag you off to the nearest bed and reaffirm that we were still alive. I could feel the blood singing in my veins, I wanted to fuck you senseless Siha, I wanted to hear you cry out my name in honour of the gods and the thought chills me. What I could do to you, how there comes a point when the sex is meditation and you become lost in the ecstasy, your partner a tool to be used and you don't stop until the first orgasm."

Jane wasn't sure whether to laugh with relief, or to cry at the pain that his words implied. He had loved Irikah so much that he'd tried to change for her, first his job, then his essential nature. Becoming two men with very different lives. From what had been said by Kolyat, about Thane never being at home, it was obvious that the hunter within him had been winning that internal battle when Irikah was murdered. Yet he'd still held to their love with a tenacity that could only be admired.

"You know that Joker is going to be pissed when he hears that he almost won that bet. I was thinking about you throwing me over a crate myself." She licked her lips nervously. "Being fucked senseless was definitely on my agenda, and so far I'm not hearing a bad side, sounds more like fun to me. One orgasm, really? You'd have to do better than that to live up to all those rumours about drell endurance Thane."

Amusement and something darker sped through his olive coloured eyes.

Thane coughed into his hand, hiding a small smirk. "One of mine Siha. We have three before we finish, each more intense and with a higher endorphin release than the one before. Sexual meditation is taught early to ensure that mating cycles are pleasurable to the female as well. Such coupling without venom is considered an act of devotion to the old gods, Arashu when in heat, and Amonkira when not."

"So... like tantra then?" It sounded like Irikah hadn't shared his religious beliefs either, crap. "Look Thane, I'm not a civilian, I don't have their sensibilities, if I can explore the whole making love thing with you, then you can join me in a devotion to one of your gods. I need all of you, match me damn it!"

"No...not quite tantra" Thane double blinked, a moment of trepidation, then shut his eyes, face similar in expression to when he had held Nassanas' body in his arms in the Dantius Towers. An invocation to the lord of the hunt.

When he opened his eyes again, the darkness peered out, roused from its long slumber by her sirens song. Her scent was excuisite, sex pheromones thick in the air, salt of the oceans and a floral accent similar to Rakhana orchids. Shepard hit the wall with enough force to drive the breath out of her. His athletic body followed, pinning her arms above her head, as he ground into her, a snarl of desire ripped from his throat, the vibrations flowing from his body into hers. He felt her heart rate speed up, saw her deep blush of arousal, and then claimed her lips, demanding entrance for his tongue, to war against her own.

Where had he learned to kiss like that? Jane found herself welcoming the intrusion of his tongue, meeting his fervour with her own passion, parting her thighs to allow him nearer to her hot core. She tried humming back to him, as she rolled her hips into his. Encouraging his advances.

Thane let go of her, his hands drifting lower to trace along the fading bitemarks on her neck and shoulder. He palmed her nipples through the slippery silk, first skimming then squeezing them. At her involuntary moan, he pulled at the tie, stripping the bathrobe from her body, and tossed it over to her office chair. It was quickly followed by his jacket.

Jane reached for the torc around his neck, then dragged her fingernails lightly around it, following his head ridges at the back, then down to his brow, and back along the sides of his facial frills, finally thumbing them gently. His arms were muscular, crossed with more black stripes and small black scales like freckles, she imagined what he looked like underneath the vest. Soon.

He trilled his enjoyment at her touch, catching her green eyes with his own again, the predator within noting every sigh and weakness that she displayed. He lifted her, and as expected she surrounded him with her legs, pulling him even closer into her sweet heat. Thane pushed her against the wall, the connection between them as near as possible given his pants, then he began to trill the mating song of Amonkira, and as Shepard cried out from the vibrations directed straight to her groin, he lit up his biotics pulsing energy across her naked body along with the tune.

Shepard shuddered under his onslaught. It was like having a vibrator on a low setting and at the same time being stroked all over with feathers, an erotic stimulation that subtly changed frequency just when you got used to it. She could feel her juices flowing and the intense need to have him inside her now. His eyes were dilating, merely thin rings of olive, barely blinking as he drank in her reactions when he finished his devotions.

Thane let his biotics fade away. Each soft brush of his fingers over her sensitised flesh caused her to squirm against him, time to change the pace. Gliding away from the wall, Thane placed her on the desk, untangling her legs to splay her thighs wide before him. His fingers stroking along her inner thighs, to rest his thumbs against her swollen outer lips, glad that she shaved there, then gently teased along the glistening opening making her jerk her hips towards him.

"For fucks sake Thane, I want you now!" She grabbed for his vest, only to find that he wasn't there anymore, he'd knelt between her legs. Jane smirked, now that was more like it!

"Don't make me tie you down Siha. Patience." Thane ran his thumbs along her engorged sex, allowing better access to his target. Her scent was thick, intoxicating. He covered her clit with his mouth, sucking the erect tip past his teeth, tongue first twirling around it then concentrating on the left, relentlessly.

"Thane...I'm..." Shepard felt the tingle in her toes, the amazing awareness of the tension gathering in her groin, then the sudden lightning release of sexual energy, arching her spine then shooting upwards into her head. Her muscles locked, as she rode the wave.

Humming his approval Thane stood once more, then pressed his fused fingers into her heat, seeing her eyes snap open in surprise. He nudged her backwards to lie flat and watched with a smile as he tested her readiness, massaging the lower floor of her entrance, then turned his fingers to feel for the rough patch, drawing them firmly back and forth in a regular rhythm until her breathing changed again, shallower, heart beat raised. Then he sped up.

She could sense the heaviness around her g-spot, her internal muscles quivering, and gave in to the impulse to thrust back against his hand desperately. The orgasm burst over her, and she moved wildly trying to make it last forever.

Screaming out her lust to Thane, "Fuck me, please just fuck me." Jane felt him remove his fingers, and she nearly sobbed from the loss.

He released the front of his pants, and buried his rigid shaft to the hilt. Her slick womanhood, clenched in aftershocks around his ribbing accentuating her tightness. Thane was stunned, the Rabbit really had been little better than a toy. He leaned forwards to take her into his arms for a moment.

"Siha, look at me." It took all of his willpower to fight back the searing compulsion to mate. One movement on her behalf and he'd become unbound seeking carnal rapture in his own endorphin high. "Embrace what comes next the way you did those, ride the euphoria. Promise me."

Just as she'd mourned the loss of his fingers, she'd rejoiced at the sensation of him filling her, each ribbed ring rubbing against her clit, stretching her opening, then the amazing sensation of being permanently on the edge due to their fit. She smiled up at him, "Please Thane, take the memories away."

Before he could ask, she thrust her hips up towards his, hearing his feral trill as his concentration broke. Jane felt him move away, his hands gripping her hips, pulling her further towards the edge of the desk, controlling the angle of his entrance.

The hunter regarded her, no mercy to be found in his eyes, the hunt was on, now to claim his mate, and transport them both across the hallowed ground.

Biotics flared in a full halo, pulsing in time with each ring entering her, and creating an energy storm within her as it danced down his member, and hit her tight walls. He found a pattern in her orgasms to suit his needs, driving into her g-spot being his favourite as her muscles squeezed him deliciously. She'd buck into him wantonly, calling out for him to continue even as she gasped for air, inflaming him more. A pity that she could not trill. He felt his ribbing begin to expand, she became unbearably tight, delightful.

The pure hedonist in Jane rose up to meet him, joining his steady rhythm, waves of ecstasy and lightning tearing through her. Time began to have no meaning. There was just the now. Her deep need to forget past pain in the the bliss of the moment consuming her, driving her on. She felt him come for the first time, cool liquid meeting her heat, as he started a deep, continuous trill.

The moment when he could have stopped, passed, he could feel the energy surrounding them, the call of the realm beyond. Her pounding heart like a drumbeat to his senses, he quickened his pace until her cries were gutteral, and she lost the ability to form words. Her body undulating in answer to his need.

The world shattered into bright lights, dancing all around them. Reaching for the lights she felt Thane instead, his emotions, his need, his shaft hard inside her, her muscles convulsing around him, and at the same time she was herself. His response to their merging was inevitable, he could feel her too, and their joint pleasure pushed him over the edge again. Their juices dripping to the floor.

Ribbing now fully engorged, he withdrew almost his full length and began a brutal series of thrusts, targetting both her clit and g-spot, then as she screamed into her final orgasm he released a biotic pulse from his hand straight over their joining. Her muscles clamped down hard and fluttered along his shaft, he threw back his head and arched into her. Howling.

_Tick..._

_She wrapped herself around him in the lightning, and flew.  
__There was no such thing as time or space. They were part of the vibrations of the universe itself, unchained, pulsing, everywhere._

_Somewhere.  
__They stood by the ocean, a lush forest at their back, with white orchids growing like vines around the trees. She'd been here before, recently, when?_

_Thane moved towards the beach, where a male and female drell waited. She vaguely reminded Jane of Kolyat, gleaming turquoise... Irikah?_

_Shepard tried to follow but found a hand firmly placed on her shoulder. She turned to see a tall and very muscular drell, all the shades of green, his clothing red as fresh blood, the torc around his neck carved of bone. He smiled at her and she shivered as she noticed that his teeth were pointed._

_"The memories that you seek to forget are what make you what you are. I can not grant you that desire Siha, we called you back from across the sea to be a weapon against the coming darkness. To protect life." He paused, "However, you have returned one of my lost huntsman to me, ask a boon and if I can grant it, it shall be done."_

_She smiled to herself, a genie hallucination, those wishes always went so well in myth. __"Let him be whole again, not torn in two."_

_The bright eyes regarded her, then he nodded, "I don't think that Arashu will object."_

_Shepard watched Thane kiss Irikahs hand, the female drell then turned taking the arm of the other, and walked into the sea. Thane turned to walk back towards her._

_"Just so I know who I'm hallucinating, who are you."_

_His deep laugh made her clench with desire, and he knew it. "I have many names in many cultures, here I am Amonkira, lord of the hunt, shaman, and warrior. Until next time Jane Ellena Shepard."_

_...Tock._

Thane crumpled over her body, both of them shaking as the bright lights and sharp noises of reality flooded back. He blessed the fact that the loft was isolated, at least no-one had heard Shepards bloodcurdling scream, or his own trilling howl at the end.

The door to her quarters opened and an irate turian snarled, his subharmonics full of threat as he raised a gun. "Move away from Shepard...NOW Krios!"

_A man who's pure of heart and says his prayers by night  
May still become a wolf when the autumn moon is bright_

_The fabric of your flesh, pure as a wedding dress  
Until I wrap myself inside your arms I cannot rest  
The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound  
I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallowed ground_

_My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in  
You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to howl  
My fingers claw your skin, try to tear my way in  
You are the moon that breaks the night for which I have to_

_Howl, howl  
Howl, howl_

A!A Lyrics Howl : Florence and the Machine.


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note: takes place directly after last scene**.

Thank you for being a friend  
Traveled down the road and back again  
your heart is true you're a pal and a confidant

I'm not ashamed to say  
I hope it always will stay this way  
My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow

And if you threw a party  
Invited everyone you knew  
You would see, the biggest gift would be from me  
and the card attached would say,  
Thank you for being a friend

"I mean it Krios!" Garrus sidestepped, back towards the wall, maintaining the maximum distance that he could from the assassin.

Thane had to smile at the timing, a few minutes later would have been ideal. At the moment every muscle in his body felt like jelly. He tried to brace himself on the sides of the desk and failed miserably.

"A moment Garrus..." His vocals trembling with the effort.

If it had been anyone else, the turian would have put a bullet in them as soon as he'd entered, Shepard had screamed,.. but she also trusted the drell. It was a difficult dilemma, and not helped by the fact the loft smelt like a back room at Choras Den, Shepard was naked, but Krios almost fully clothed. Not a good scenario at all, if his days at C-Sec were anything to go by.

Tali was seconds behind Garrus, after straightening from hacking the door.

"Oh, OH, Keelah! Put your gun way Garrus." Tali marched passed him, her laughter strangely distorted by her voice syntheziser. "What! You tried the rite standing up?" Her helmet shook with amusement as she took in their disarray. The puddle of sex juices on the floor, Shepard covered in sweat smiling at the ceiling and Thane slumped bonelessly on top of her.

"Tali?" The turian was still vibrating anger in his subharmonics.

"It's Ok Garrus, they just...uhmmm, turned their version of Nerve Stim Pro too high I guess would be the best analogy." She walked up to Shepard to study her face, "Last time I saw anyone this spaced out was on Kahje during the feast of Amonkira. There was this priest at the temple there, offering the rite of Amonkira to female quarians by using the old nerve stim program. I was young, just before my pilgrimage and thought that I was already an expert with tech..."

Thane was amazed that he could follow the conversation. His body was beginning to feel his own again, he straightened and withdrew from Shepards', feeling a sense of loss. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with Jane, the interruption from her friends was jarring.

"You are talking about Master Thearan, his specialty is interspecies understanding."

Tali couldn't resist a quick glance downwards, then handed him Shepards silk robe to dry himself off, her eyes bright. "Yes, I think that was his name. He asked what my pleasure threshold was and I naively said very high, it took me 15 minutes to string a coherent sentence together afterwards... I wish I had that program." She glanced back towards the turian.

Garrus shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. His mandibles pulled towards his face in embarassment. It was bad enough to have walked in on Shepard and Thane, but to have his own sex life discussed, was awkward.

"We however won the bet Thane, I know that you found it amusing yesterday." Tali teased, knowing it would irritate Garrus and divert him from thinking too hard about Shepards state of undress.

"Tali that's not fair, how was I to know that the Pro version is..." Garrus trailed off as two sets of eyes coolly regarded him. " Ok it was a mistake, I calibrated your stim into my own response time."

"The mistake was in telling me to use the maximum setting, what was it ...3 minutes?" She said caustically.

Thane sympathised with both of them, Garrus obviously felt guilty for not lasting, and Tali was frustrated by lack of stimulation. A common beginners error. Something he could actually help with if he got Tali out of the way.

"Tali do you think that you could help me with Shepard?" Thane placed her robe over her lower body. Better to save her embarassment of flashing her friends.

As the quarian turned back to Jane, Thane gave Garrus the turian military gesture for 'talk later', and saw his mandibles flare in understanding.

Tali gazed down at Jane, and then lightly shook her shoulder. A groan made her laugh, and she saw Janes eyes flick towards her, and an involuntary wince as the commander realised the situation.

_Great, the best fuck of my life and perhaps the most embarassing situation as well. _She noticed Garrus' stance, still defensive, pistol at his side._ Crap, he must have thought something bad was going down._

"Uh, help me sit up." Her lips felt wooden, and she saw their amused expressions at her slurring like a drunken marine on shore leave. Thane gathered her in his arms then lifted her to sit in the chair, keeping his hands on her shoulders to help her stay upright. Tali went to fetch the clothes that Jane had left on the bed earlier.

"You ok Shepard?"

"Yeah, Garrus, you know me, I didn't listen to reason. Guess that makes two of us. You and Nerve Stim Pro huh?"

"Just a calibration thing..." His mandibles flaring in a turian smile, sonics more relaxed.

"Uhuh." She grinned wickedly, they'd be teasing each other about this moment for years.

"You can holster the pistol Garrus...thanks though." Letting him know that she knew what he must have thought. Jane was suddenly very glad that she'd been honest with Garrus about her interest in the drell, or Thane would most likely be dead by now.

Shepard went through a mental body check, she was feeling better, still lightheaded and some sensitivity to noise, but otherwise ok.

"So...not that it isn't nice to see you guys, but the door was locked."

"Yeah, about that Shepard, we figured that you were just pissed at Kaidan, and really wanted some..._cough_...company. Didn't realise you already had some." His voice flanged in amusement.

"You heard about that?"

"It's a small ship Shepard. The vid has already done the rounds, and Gardner wants you to know that he's making something special for dinner to cheer you up. Something involving chocolate and an alcoholic beverage called rum?" Tali tossed the uniform to Jane. "Kasumi and Zaeed are planning a party at the bar, even found some turian brandy. Come on let's get you cleaned up."

Thane gave her a hand up, and made to go into the bathroom with the two women, only to be stopped by an envirosuited hand. "It will take twice as long with you there." Then the door shut in his face.

"I nearly killed you." the turian leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"I am aware of that Garrus. In the same circumstances I would not have hesitated." Thane shrugged back into his jacket. He walked towards the turian, bringing up his omnitool to flash transfer three files. "These are the programs used by Master Thearan, you'll need to import them to the modern version of the software, and I recommend starting with the beginners version. I'll leave you to recalibrate the pattern to fit young Talis preferences."

"Interspecies understanding?"

The ghost of a smile crossed Thanes face, "Would you prefer the Compacts title used on the assassins course? Interspecies sexual interrogation. People will divulge anything during a sexual high, particularly when using venom."

His blue eyes narrowed at Thanes admission, and he jerked his mandibles at the closed bathroom door.

"No. The rite of Amonkira requires that no venom is exchanged, that is why I remained clothed. The venom on our skin is not as potent as that in our mouths, however we can control oral venom."

The C-Sec officer in Garrus was scandalised by Thanes admissions, but Archangel,.. Archangel was ruthless enough to appreciate that anyone going after Shepard would have to go through both Thane and himself. He was satisfied. Maybe Wrex hadn't been totally wrong.

"So...Horizon, nice job. Would have headbutted him again myself, but I particularly liked his face when he finally realised who you were. When you played back that memory I thought he'd shit a brick as the humans say. _Classy_."

The bathroom door opened. Jane had caught the last word.

"So what are you boys talking about, turian antique shops?" She quipped.

"No Siha, just a target that we both share." Neither Garrus nor Thane said any more on the subject.

"EDI raise the temperature in here by five degrees please, I have plans for later."

Thane double blinked and smirked back at her grin.

"Ok everyone lets go and get food, then a drink or two...Tali we'll find you a straw to try the rum. All human spirits are dextro friendly, no protein chains." Shepard herded them into the elevator, nearly jumping out of her skin when Thanes hand caressed her backside.

She leaned into him as she listened to Garrus proposing round two to Tali.

And when we both get older  
With walking canes and hair of gray  
Have no fear, even though it's hard to hear  
I will stand real close and say,  
Thank you for being a friend

I'm not ashamed to say  
I hope it always will stay this way  
My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow

And when we die and float away  
Into the night, the Milky Way  
You'll hear me call, as we ascend  
I'll see you there, then once again  
Thank you for being a friend

A!A Lyrics Thank you for being a friend: Andrew Gold.


End file.
